Spearfish hatchery destined for local control

South Dakota's Republican congressional delegation has been obstructing attempts by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to streamline the agency weaning support from a hatchery known for introducing invasive species in Black Hills watersheds and into the waters of the United States.

Congress has since passed a bill protecting the DC Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery – but the facility's future is still in doubt. But, the Booth Society, an advocacy group for the hatchery, says part of the Fish and Wildlife Service has plans to shut down the operation and has already cut the staff from six federal employees down to one. We reached out to the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Denver Office to see if they have plans to shut down the hatchery, but there was no response. [KEVN teevee]

Trout are not native to South Dakota yet the state's sitting At-large US Representative is staking her seat on infesting the waters of the United States.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service should block releases of these fish into any part of the system.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced a project meant to eliminate the non-native brook trout population in a stream near Yellowstone National Park and restore native Yellowstone cutthroats.

In the past decade, crews from the NPS (along with workers from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S Forest Service and Turner Enterprises) have been striving in partnership to create a secure refuge in the Grayling Creek watershed: 35 miles of stream habitat. The brunt of the work involved removing nonnative trout populations—brown and rainbow trout—from the area. [Yellowstone Insider]

Native fish like pallid sturgeon are in danger of extirpation in the dam-choked Missouri River.